


The Magic Fort

by WritingCreatingStorytelling



Category: Actor RPF, American Actor RPF, Captain America (Movies) RPF, Chris Evans - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, Stargazing, fort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5842156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingCreatingStorytelling/pseuds/WritingCreatingStorytelling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris, the romantic, surprises his girlfriend, Natalia, with a fort in their backyard. It's a surprise that sets up an even bigger, unexpected surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Magic Fort

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! xx

Chris stood in the doorway, a secret smile pulling on his face. He watched Natalia flip through a recipe book, inaudibly chuckling when her soft humming reached his ears.

She had been attached to that book for almost an hour now. Which had worked in his favor, allotting Chris the secret time apart in order to set up everything before she realized he had disappeared. The whole day he had been sweating bullets. Originally, the plan was for his sister to keep her out of the house while he worked on the surprise. But Natalia had cancelled the spa day, stubbornly insisting on a lazy movie marathon Sunday – just the two of them. 

How could he say no? 

Luckily, something had jogged her memory during the credits of the last film and she had begun to panic about not having the official menu set for the end of summer dinner party they were hosting. That was the needed distraction that had saved his ass.

Coming up behind her, Chris tried to be stealthy in his steps to not make his presence known quite yet. When he reached her, hands clasped behind his lower back, he ducked his head and murmured in her ear, “Do you trust me?”

Natalia gasped and whipped her head around, almost colliding with his nose if he hadn’t jumped back with a stunned laugh. 

“Jesus, I’m so sorry!” She apologized. Swatting his chest with the back of her hand, she added, “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?! I could’ve broken your nose.”

“My nose would’ve been fine,” Chris assured her with a deep chuckle. 

She quirked a brow and squinted at him curiously. _That was it?_ That was the best he had?

Chris could see the wheels turning in her head, the suspicion evident in her pensive stare. Clearing his throat, he made another attempt at recreating her favorite scene from _Aladdin,_ distracting her from the astounding detective skills she honed before she somehow uncovered the truth. 

“Do you trust me?” He repeated with a palm outstretched towards her, unaware of the mysterious glint that kept flickering in his eyes. 

The second attempt was deemed a success.

Natalia offered him a shy smile, immediately picking up on what he was doing. This was probably why he was acting strange, he wanted to roleplay. _Kinky bastard._

“ _Yeees_..” She answered softly, slowly placing her hand in his.

Refraining from belting out _A Whole New World_ , Chris mutely led her out the sliding doors to the spacious deck and avoided the inquisition the whole journey. Once they stepped off the last step, he gestured towards the space between the two beloved trees that stood tall at the far back of the yard, putting an end to her persistent pestering.

Her attention fell on the unexpected display before her.

“Oh, wow!” Natalia gasped into the August night.

He had built her an open fort, designed with bed sheets romantically wrapped around the tree trunks and a massive amount of colorful blankets and throw pillows covering the grassy area. Strings of white lights lined with the sheets and lanterns hung low from the branches above. Ever the safety man (trained well by her), he had battery operated flame candles surrounding the tent rather than real wick candles, adding a nice touch to the soft glow that illuminated the area.

It wasn’t enormous in the slightest, but spacious enough to easily be comfortable for the two of them to spend the evening.

“So,” Chris gently tugged on her hand to grab her attention, mirroring the excited grin that was plastered on her face. “I might not have a magic carpet, but may I interest you in a magic fort?”

“Are you kidding me? This is fucking _awesome_ , babe!” Natalia said, stretching up on her tiptoes to happily thank him with a chaste kiss. “You are incredible. Seriously, I love it. We should start doing this often! Like, it could become _our thing_. How wicked cool would that be?”

Chris laughed, relieved that she was already enjoying herself.

After kicking off their shoes, the pair climbed into the fort on their hands and knees and settled into the soft and cozy sanctuary. Natalia maneuvered to sit between Chris’s legs, intently gaping up at the glittering sky. Even now, almost two decades later from the first night she fell in love with the luminous sky, she felt bewitched.

“So, what are we seeing tonight?” She asked, leaning back on his hard chest. She smiled when she felt his chin instantly rest on the top of her head.

“I’m glad you asked,” he answered, his voice trembling with a variety of emotions that left her puzzled. 

Before she could question him, Chris secured one arm around her and lifted the other to point up at the starry night. “You see that bright star, the one that’s a bit misshaped?”

“Mhm,” Natalia hummed, sighing dreamily. She loved doing this with him, stargazing and inventing their own constellations. She wondered what he would come up with tonight.

Chris shifted his head slightly to the left, keeping his gaze upward while softly speaking into her hair, “It looks like two balls of light joining together…to form one. Well, that’s because at one point in time, they _were_ two separate stars. But somehow, one day, their energies became attracted – magnetic. And so they collided and remained that way ever since.”

He paused, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling her sweet scent. “Together, they become bigger, stronger – _complete_ – amid all the clusters of the other stars that might try to crowd them. They rely on one another, support each other… because separated… Well, separated, they can’t shine as bright.”

Natalia’s eyes welled up. “That’s beautiful, Chris,” she said, breathless.

Chris pressed a quick kiss on her head, then added, “If you look closely, there’s a trail of tiny stars that start from the center of it. And, you see, the trail follows around it,” His hand moved to demonstrate his description, “then loops to form another oval shape before returning back to the coupled star. See that? Looks like a lazy eight curve.”

“Like the infinity symbol?”

He grinned. “Exactly, baby. Just like the infinity symbol.”

In reality, she couldn’t see it. It was imaginary, the story he was telling. However, with the way he was describing it, his voice earthy and so romantic, Natalia felt like she _could_ see it. He made her _believe_.

“What’s it called?” She whispered, afraid to break the dreamlike trance they were captivated in.

Chris smiled against her hair before revealing in a low tone, “ _Natris_.”

Her heart swelled. _Natris_. A portmanteau word that referenced their partnership, given to them by his obnoxious family that loved to relentlessly tease them whenever they made the cover of a trashy magazine.

“Chris,” Natalia gushed, twisting around to get a better look at him. He was flashing her his lopsided grin, the one that never failed to accelerate her heartbeat. His blue eyes were shining, like the stars – _their stars_ – were reflecting in them.

“I love you,” Chris thickly said, then cleared his throat; it did nothing, the deep emotion that was bubbling inside his chest was still evident in his speech. “I love you so much, Natalia.”

She caressed the side of his face. “I love you, too.” 

The words rolled easily off her tongue, albeit strained as she tried to keep her composure. She was deeply touched, completely and hopelessly in love with the man that was staring at her with nothing but love and adoration. 

“I feel like we have been through so much together already. And we have, haven’t we? We’ve been put through the wringer. We’ve been kicked down and beaten.” Chris inhaled deeply and swallowed, leaning into her touch. 

Threading his fingers through hers, he gripped tightly and continued, “But here we are, proving that we can pull through anything that comes charging at us. And I am so glad and.. _._ God _, happy_ … I’m happy that it’s _you.”_

She blinked, trying to rid the tears that were clouding her vision, but the more he poured his heart out, the more her ability to banish them slipped away.

“I know that sounds wrong,” he winced at his poor choice of words, “I don’t mean that you deserve the tragedy that shook us. Because you don’t.” He brought his free hand up to cup her face like she was doing to his. His thumb brushed her tears away. “Of course, you don’t. Look at you; you are _amazing_. So kind and generous… such a _beautiful_ soul. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“Christopher-”

“What I mean is that I wouldn’t have been able to get through it if it hadn’t been you by my side.” With glistening eyes, he quickly looked up before reverting back to her. “Like that star, we’re bigger, brighter, _stronger_ …together.”

Natalia sniffled and nodded mutely, too overcome with the sentiment his speech brought. 

“And, _so_ ,” A small smile played on his lips as he untangled their entwined fingers and stretched his arm behind him. “I would be honored if you would accept what I have here for you…”

“Oh…Chris…w-what..” Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight of a pale blue box that he retrieved from underneath the pile of pillows and blankets. That could only house _one thing_.

Chris smiled brightly at a stunned Natalia that was now covering her mouth in utter disbelief while her eyes kept darting between the box and his dancing pools of blue. There was no trace of the nerves that had plagued him all day. He was sure they were ready, knew that _he_ was more than ready to take this next big step towards their future. 

“Natalia…” He popped the top up, revealing the display of a timeless diamond ring that took her breath away. “Will you marry me?”

“Oh my god.” Natalia felt like she was soaring, like cloud nine was a place that actually existed. And it did, because it was here, in the fort this incredible man had made to create the most magical moment in her life. 

“Baby, oh my god…” Her hands slid up to cover her face, feeling her cheeks blazing. Tears were streaming down, sweet giggles colliding with the slight sobs that were brought on by shock. She hadn’t suspected a thing. 

Chris’s eyes widened, looking on expectantly while his lips quivered humorously at her reaction. “Weeeell, is that a yes?”

Natalia peeked through the gaps between her fingers. She couldn’t believe it. This was really happening. He wanted to _marry_ her. Suddenly, she realized that she had yet to give him her answer. She didn’t know she really _had_ to. There was no doubt what her answer would be. 

“Chris! Oh my god, _yes_!” She flung her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses, causing him to lose his balance and fall back. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“ _Jesus_!” Chris shouted with a bark of laughter. His arms wrapped around her waist to pull her with him, his heedless of the safety of the pricey ring resulting in a scavenger hunt later that night.

On the way down, one of the two had yanked on a forbidden string that was crucial to the structure of the fort. The sheets and _everything_ that was above them came floating and crashing down, covering the laughing and overjoyed couple that were now _engaged_.


End file.
